Woof
by Riley Cruce
Summary: Now that Rory has gone off to Yale, Lorelai decides she needs a companion for the long lonely nights... and selects a puppy named Charles. But raising a puppy isn't nearly as easy as she figured. May morph into LL eventually.
1. As in the prince, or Dickens

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls. and might I add I wish I did.  
  
Lorelai slouched on the couch with her eyes glued to the screen, fingering the buttons on the remote at her side. The late nights without Rory made the time so boring. And the house seemed so empty it was almost creepy. But Lorelai was determined not to give in and call Rory. Rory was supposed to be the one missing her, not the other way around. It was almost like she felt like she needed something to be brave for and protect if somebody broke in. No, she couldn't have been thinking that. Kirk was obviously scaring her with his current security theme.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Rory opened the door and yelled the typical, "I'm home!" greeting. Something jumped on her leg, and Rory shrieked, startled. She examined the creature that had scared her. It was a yellow puppy, who wagged its tail now as she pet it.  
  
"Hey little.. Uh, fellow," she said, pausing to check his gender quickly. By this time, Lorelai had reacted to her yell of arrival and had joined Rory and the puppy by the front door. Rory stood up and hugged her mother. They moved to the kitchen and the dog followed faithfully intrigued by the stranger he couldn't recognize, Rory.  
  
"So," asked Rory, "what's his name?"  
  
"Charles," Lorelai answered, "like as in the prince."  
  
"Or Charles Dickens," Rory pointed out. "So who's dog is it?"  
  
Lorelai hesitated. "See, um, that's the thing-"  
  
"Please tell me you're dog sitting."  
  
"Can't do that," Lorelai said with a happy smirk on her face.  
  
"You got a dog? And without consulting me. No pro-con list. We-"  
  
"Actually, there is a pro-con list, which is under many, many dog training books that are on the table."  
  
"We are not animal people! You nearly lost my bird, but then you got a dog without telling me!"  
  
"You cut your hair without telling me, and the bird was two years ago! I've changed. You've changed. We've changed. Everybody's changed!" Lorelai said enthusiastically, trying to get Rory to support the dog idea, or rather, the dog that was right there. "Besides, he's so cute," Lorelai said, pointing to the dog without looking at him.  
  
Rory looked at the dog, who was wetting the couch. "He's going back as soon as I get the chance, and hopefully he won't ruin all the furniture before then."  
  
At the furniture comment, Lorelai realized what the dog was doing and ran towards him, shouting, "No No. Bad doggy! Not inside!" Rory took her stuff to her room. 


	2. Sold Hearts

Disclaimer: Gilmore Girls is not mine. ( It is on my xmas list though!  
  
By the time Rory went to bed that evening, she didn't have any problem with having Charles around. She did still feel sorry for the puppy and in a joking way, she hoped for his survival, but she could already see the good it was doing for her mother. Lorelai loved the little yellow thing, and it kept her on her toes yet strangely longing for more.  
  
"This must have been what she was like when I was that small," Rory thought, making reference to the puppy's petite measure.  
  
Besides the good Charles was doing, Rory found it highly amusing to watch Lorelai and the dog interact. Charles followed Lorelai almost everywhere, so Lorelai came to expect him too very quickly. If he wasn't there at anytime, she would go to look for him, and every time he would be doing something he shouldn't have been, like digesting Rory's sneakers, one of his newly discovered favorite activities.  
  
Lorelai had obviously already sold a piece of her heart to Charles. And by the time he curled up between Rory and Lorelai during a movie, sneakers or no sneaker, Rory had too. 


	3. Health Regulations

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls at all. darn it!  
  
It was a sunny day and Lorelai was walking to Luke's. Charles ran ahead of her. Although he was limited by his shiny new leash, he still took the time to eagerly sniff everything he passed. As the pair approached Luke's, she debated with herself whether or not Charles should accompany her inside the diner.  
  
"Sure, why not? It will give me an excuse to get Luke's attention. HOLD IT! I did not just think that!" She mentally kicked herself as she held the door open while Charles rushed in to greet the well-loved smell of food. Following Charles in, Lorelai shortened the leash and pulled Charles to the counter, where she perched herself on a stool, waiting for her next adventure with Luke to begin.  
  
"Coffee?" Luke asked, coming out for the kitchen.  
  
"Yes please," Lorelai said with a giddy smirk although Luke had already poured her some.  
  
"What are you so happy about?" Before Lorelai had a chance to answer, Kirk, sitting at the nearest table, managed to spill his drink. Startled, Charles yelped from under the counter where he had been sitting obediently.  
  
"Oh great," muttered Luke. He grabbed the wet rag he used to wipe down the counter and went to clean up the lemonade that was dripping from a puddle on the table to an even bigger puddle on the floor.  
  
Luke wiped up the mess on the table, and then bent down to clean the floor and found himself face to face with a little yellow puppy. Following the dog's lead up past Lorelai's legs ("Wow, she really should wear those tight jeans more often," Luke thought. Now it was his turn to mentally kick himself), he found that the dog was attatched to Lorelai. He looked up from the ground.  
  
"This your dog?"  
  
"Oh, Charles?" she asked, acting clueless although she knew perfectly well that he was referring to her dog, since there were no other dogs in the diner.  
  
Luke let the comment go, skipping right on to the next question. "What is 'Charles' doing in my diner?"  
  
"We were on a walk and I wanted coffee," Lorelai answered as if it were this happened daily.  
  
"There are no dogs allowed in this diner."  
  
"Really? Because I don't see a 'NO DOGS' sign next to that oh-so- wonderful 'NO CELL PHONES' sign," Lorelai replied, lowering her voice to announce the messages of the signs.  
  
"Lorelai," said Luke, actually calling her by her name for once, "is a restaurant. Food is served here. There are health regulations."  
  
"He doesn't have fleas, or rabbies, or even a little cold."  
  
"He's a dog. 'No shirt, no shoes, no service'," Luke quoted, "and that's it!"  
  
"Fine, you don't have to serve him. He doesn't want anything."  
  
Having finished cleaning despite his interruption, Luke returned to his spot behind the counter again and took Lorelai's coffee away.  
  
"Hey!" Lorelai gasped, " That was mine, not his!"  
  
"Get the dog out," Luke said sternly.  
  
Lorelai rose and Charles followed her.  
  
Pausing before she left, Lorelai turned around and declared, "You better be arranging a delivery service or something, 'cause I'm not leaving my baby home alone!" Then she spun around and left. 


	4. Baby

Disclaimer: I am not in any way affiliated with Gilmore Girls, but god, if I had the option, I would be in less than a second!  
  
"Rory? Lorelai's voice sounded desperate to Rory, who was on her way to class.  
  
"Mom? What's wrong?" Rory asked, concerned, but still preoccupied.  
  
"I want coffee."  
  
"Go to Luke's. Mom, I'm late for this class and I-"  
  
"Can't go to Luke's. He won't let me bring my baby."  
  
"Your what?"  
  
"Charles."  
  
"No, not Charles. What did you say about bringing a baby? Please tell me you're taking care of Davie and you didn't go out and adopt some poor, poor child this time! Not that I even think you can do something like that so fast... But you didn't, did you?"  
  
"No, I didn't. Calm down hun. I was just talking about Charles."  
  
"Oh, Charles. How is the little guy?"  
  
"He's great and cute and fuzzy still. But Mommy! Mommy wants coffee!"  
  
"And you can't take Charles to Luke's? Just leave him home."  
  
"I can't do that. He'd miss me. Wouldn't you?" Lorelai, although partly talking to Rory, was also now conversing with the dog in babytalk.  
  
"You could leave him with Sookie if you're really sure he couldn't stay home."  
  
"I couldn't do that to her. She has a baby."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Sookie. Jackson. Baby. Davie."  
  
"Oh, ok. Sorry. What about Jason?"  
  
"Working."  
  
"Michel? He likes dogs."  
  
"Although you may get by on good looks alone, the rest of the world does work babe."  
  
"The Inn with the work guys."  
  
"Didn't I just explain the work thing? Besides, you can't be serious."  
  
"No, I'm not serious. But you can't be serious about not being to leave him home."  
  
"Poor, coffee-deprived Mommy..."  
  
"Sorry, got a class. Bye!"  
  
Lorelai held the phone in her hands and sighed. Charles stood up against her on his hind feet, then returned to his normal position, walked a few feet away and took a flying leap onto Lorelai's lap.  
  
As he turned a circle, Lorelai coddled him, "Mommy loves you, but you," she tapped his nose, "you sure can be a nuisance. So what do you say? Stay home alone? Throw a big party, get busted by the doggy cops?" She gazed into his innocent black eyes.  
  
"Now who am I kidding? You're just a puppy and you're not big and tough enough to be left home yet. Besides, you might do something embarrassing like buy everybody a cone-shaped hat and hire a clown at that big party of yours... Not that I ever did that..." Laughing to herself, Lorelai lifted the dog off her lap and then left the room to complete some random task, Charles trotting loyally at her heels.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Coming!" Lorelai shouted as she made her way to the front door. Charles, who had been dozing on the couch, raised his head and barked.  
  
"Hush, baby," Lorelai said as she pulled open the door.  
  
"Baby?" Luke questioned.  
  
"What?!" Lorelai was a bit startled, thinking that Luke was referring to her.  
  
"Baby. You said baby."  
  
"I was talking to Charles."  
  
"The dog?"  
  
"Yup," Lorelai said with a huge grin. "So... can I help you?"  
  
"Oh, um, coffee," explained Luke, holding up a cup.  
  
"You are a god! Come on in."  
  
"Oh, I'm alright. Just came with coffee. Figured you didn't come because of the dog."  
  
"Come. Enter Mt. Olympus, oh mighty Luke the coffee god."  
  
Luke gave half a snort and a shrug and did as she instructed. 


End file.
